Leslie Mendelson - Swan Feathers Review
Posted by Rob Fierro on 07.12.2009
Comparisons to Carly Simon and Carole King aside, Leslie Mendelson crafts a fun, catchy pop album that enters her into the upper echelon of modern singer-songwriters.
Tracks
I Know You Better Than That
So Far So Bad*
Rest of London*
I See Myself With You
Easy Love
Hit The Spot*
If I Don’t Stop Loving You
Turn It Over
No Easy Way Out*
Be My Baby
Goodnight
*worth a listen
In a year which saw Regina Spektor’s Far chart highly, New York City native, Leslie Mendelson offers a strong showing on her debut Swan Feathers. Building on the strong pop template of her female singer-songwriter predecessors, she crafts a moving, emotional and introspective offering that demonstrates her versatility. Some tracks are fast and catchy, while others are slow and layered. Some hint at personal anguish and desire and others portend an uplifting, optimistic view on love and life. Comparisons to Carly Simon and Carole King aside, Leslie Mendelson crafts a fun, catchy pop album that enters her into the upper echelon of modern singer-songwriters.
Mendelson creates an album that makes heavy use of piano, guitar and bass accompaniment to produce a very rich and layered debut offering. She sets the tone for the album (literally) with “I Know You Better Than That,” an upbeat song about the betrayal of a lover. The subject isn’t truthful about in his dealings with her, but tries to put on an act for her, perhaps in hopes of stringing her along. As the title suggests, she isn’t fooled. Mendelson continues this theme with “So Far So Bad.” She sings about their unfortunate past and how she is unable to escape what the subject in question has done. As she says in the track, she is constantly reminded of what went wrong. Mendelson slows down the proceedings with “Rest of London.” This track features slower piano accompaniment and the other instruments join as it progresses. Here, she somberly sings of when things will be different and it seems as if the title reflects a past in London. The underground imagery that she presents seems to refer to the memories of her time in London and a figurative death that occurs, as she tries to forget.
Beginning with the next track, Mendelson crafts a more uplifting picture of love. In “I See Myself With You,” she is no longer lamenting the lost love. Instead she sings about a happier future with the subject of the song. Her finger picking technique complements her vocals at the start of the track and the other instruments join in later. As the title suggests, “Easy Love” is a song about love working out and how it’s easy to keep the good times going. The track features effects on an electric guitar at the onset and a keyboard further accompanies Mendelson’s vocals. “Hit the Spot” is another uplifting track. It describes somewhat of a blasé approach to love and she wonders how it was so easy for her and the subject to click so well. This track features a “walking bass” opening solely accompanying Mendelson’s vocals. Guitar, brass and percussion instrumentation soon follow to produce a very interesting sound.
The next track provides a counterpoint to the uplifting, positive tracks that it follows, perhaps as a means to reflect how one in a breakup can waver between happy and sad feelings. “If I Don’t Stop Loving You” is slow throughout and again features Mendelson’s finger picking. It describes the end of a relationship and the realization that the onus is on her to come to grips with it. “Turn It Over” offsets the tone and attitude of the preceding track, as it describes how she looks to restart the good in her life. Light percussion accompanies her vocals and her guitar play produces a very catchy hook.
In Mendelson’s “No Easy Way Out,” she describes a fatalist approach to love; things are seemingly going well, but she sees problems arising. The track features prominent piano and light guitar strumming in the beginning and the rest of the band joins in about halfway through. Next, Mendelson covers the Ronnettes’ “Be My Baby.” Like the original, it describes the devotional aspect to love, but slower, it also features vocal effects and bongo accompaniment. Finally, Mendelson’s “Goodnight” rounds out the album. It utilizes an accordion-driven intro to complement her vocals, along with the standard guitar and bass accompaniment. The track describes another end of a relationship, in such away that it also makes reference to the end of the album. Mendelson is saying goodnight to the subject, as well as to her listeners.
As stated, Mendelson builds on her predecessor’s sounds to craft an emotionally introspective and versatile debut. Mendelson truly brings the listener into her world. At times, her vocals pull at the heartstrings, as one can truly feel her pain through her singing. Other tracks cause one to smile because of the uplifting imagery and delightful instrumentation. Mendelson crafts a very strong debut that perhaps portends a greater influx of female singer-songwriters in the future.
The 411: Mendelson brings the goods in Swan Feathers. The tracks are catchy and expertly written. Her voice is truly beautiful and the instrumentation is interesting. Definitely worth a listen.
